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A rig h t a ttitu d e tow ard God is the gate to Heaven. (Matt. 18:3) :“ Exe ept y e fo e co n v er te d (repent b e c o m e a s l i t t l e ch i l d r e n , y e sha enter into the kin g d o m o f h e a v There could be no one in heaven who did not believe as God believed, w ith out rebellion. Men must be in harmony w ith the m ind of God in all things if they are to dwell w ith H im ; they must be ‘able to see all things from God’s standpoint; they must be w illing to do His will in all things; all of which can only be brought about by being born again (John 3 :3 ). Our message must be a well-defined one to men everywhere— “Repent.” (3) THE MEANING, Luke 7:24-28. The im port of Jo h n ’s m inistry is sig nificant. It was designed for the day. It was to meet th e conditions confront ing th e Jew ish people who were looking for the Messiah. I t was to strik e hard at the sins of th e ecclesiasts who. ruled th e Jewish church, and of the people who had fallen into th e errors of false teachers. A formal religion is a false religion and fatal to th e in terests of the people. John the Baptist prepared th e way for Jesus, for His message and His sacri fice. Jesus prepared the way for the apostles and for Paul, the chief (2 Cor. 11:5; 12 :11 ). The history of the church is filled w ith illu stration s of God’s methods. Men are chosen w ith reference to the character of th e times. W hat kind of men do you th ink God will choose for these perilous times? PERTINENT QUESTIONS (1) How did Jesus prove th a t the
here, to signify a “ change of m ind:”!:-; To “ rep en t” is to “ change th e m ind.” The message of John is like the mes sage of Jesus (Mark 1 :1 5 ), ‘‘Repent ye, and believe th e Gospel.” And like th e message of th e twelve (Mark 6 :1 2 ), “And they w ent and preached th a t men should repen t.” It was th e same in tiie opening message of P eter (Acts 2 :3 8 ), “Repent and be baptised, every one of you.” Likewise Paul, (Acts 26:20) “T hat men should rep en t and re tu rn to God.” . Inasmuch as men are everywhere and always th e same, the message must everywhere and always be, “Change your m ind about God; change your a ttitu d e toward God.” Men have wrong opinions concerning God. The devil made Eve believe th a t God was jealously w ithholding from h er th e hidden wisdom which would give her equality w ith God. Eve be lieved th e devil’s lie and from th a t day to th is men have harbored wrong thoughts concerning God. Cain fell heir to his m other’s n atu re and con cluded th a t he knew b etter th an God what kind of sacrifice should be of fered. God’s rejection of his offering brought out what was in Cain’s heart. W rong thinking leads to wrong liv ing. Because men have wrong thoughts concerning God they reject His Word, they rebel against His laws, they doubt His goodness, they believe the devil’s lie concerning Him, they harden th e ir h earts and go fa rth er and farth er into sin. Some men believe God to be a veri table m onster; others th ink th a t He is like men,—weak, vacillating and too good to be ju st. There are men who profess to believe th a t th ere was no need for a Saviour; th a t Christ was simply a good man, a g reat teacher. They must all repent in th e ir attitu d e toward God or they will all likewise perish.
a ttitu d e of th e Jews toward John was false? (Matt. 21:23- 27). (2) In w hat respect are the believ ers in Jesus Christ today g reat er th a n John th e Baptist? (Heb. 11:39, 40). (3) Why did Jesus call them “ a
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